You're Too Important To Die
by CourtneyMalfoy22
Summary: All Harry wanted was a normal year at Hogwarts. But combining the Tournament with friendships becoming rivalries and rivalries becoming friendships, leads to a very abnormal year for one Harry James Potter...
1. Chapter 1

You're Too Important To Die

**Author's Note:  
><strong>Yes, yes… I know it's not Change In A Star's Alignment, but I had seriously had so many ideas lately that they have to be written out! Again though, I have not stopped my main story! This is my second story that may potentially be quite long as well? We'll see! Enjoy!

**Always,**

** CourtneyMalfoy22**

_Chapter 1:_

Harry sat in the Common Room of Gryffindor Tower, feeling more nervous than he had in his whole life. Of course, that was not true considering the amount of times he had faced Voldemort, but in this moment, he still felt extremely nervous. He knew that he was being irrational… Obviously his friends would be fine with it… _Right?_ However, he no longer had time to think about it as Ron and Hermione had just walked through the portrait hole. Secretly, Harry wished that they would keep walking and not notice him, but his wish did not come true as Hermione spotted him immediately and rushed over to the table Harry was sitting at in the corner of the room.

"There you are Harry! I needed to tell you-" Hermione began excitedly.

"Actually, I need to tell you guys something too…" Harry interrupted.

"Oh, of course! What is it Harry?" she asked, eyeing him intently. Obviously she was trying to figure out what was going on in Harry's head before a knowing look came into her brown eyes.

"Well… um…" He stammered.

"It's okay Harry, we won't be mad" she said encouragingly, placing her hand over top of Harry's.

Harry briefly noticed the angry look that crossed Ron's face at Hermione's touch to Harry's hand, but he ignored it in order to get out what he had to say. _Besides,_ he thought, _maybe Ron will be okay with it since it would mean I have no intentions to be with Hermione whatsoever…_

"Alright… Well…" he began, still nervous despite Hermione's obvious support. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe 'Mione had guessed wrong and was thinking he was about to say something else instead and would-. Harry stopped thinking in that moment and just blurted out what he had to say, "I'm gay."

He watched his friends intently. Hermione's expression had hardly changed except for the small smile that was spreading across her face. He turned to Ron next, and saw that the red-head seemed to be going through many emotions at once. He couldn't help himself from laughing out loud when Ron asked if Harry had feelings for him.

"No, Ron! I swear I don't!" Harry laughed, seeing the relief come across his best friend's face.

"Alright, then I'm cool with it Harry." Ron said with a slight smile.

"'Mione?" he asked, already thinking he knew what she would say, but feeling the need to ask anyways.

"Of course I'm fine with it! Took you long enough, though!" She said, amused.

"Yeah, yeah…" Harry said, "So what were you going to talk to me about before I stopped you?"

"Oh! Right!" Ron said, sounding excited about something, "Well Hermione here found out what this 'special occasion' was that's happening this year at Hogwarts"

"Oh? And what is it?" he asked, mildly curious as to what they (well, Hermione) had found out.

"It's the Triwizard Tournament!" Ron exclaimed.

"The what?" he asked, confused.

He saw Hermione roll her eyes at Ron for forgetting that he would not know what it was since he was not raised in the Wizarding World. "Basically, it's where other magical schools come and compete in this tournament. There are extremely hard tasks that the competitors have to get through and they are awarded points. The school with the most points at the end wins."

"Does the whole school compete?" Harry questioned urgently, not wanting to have to be a part of even more extremely dangerous tasks than the ones he's already been through in his Hogwarts career.

"Oh, no! You enter yourself into it. They only choose one person to represent each school." Hermione corrected.

"Yeah, yeah," Ron interjected before Harry could reply, "but you're leaving out the good bits 'Mione! Don't forget about how the winner gets a bunch of money and 'eternal glory'!"

Harry thought about how that was the exact _last_ thing he wanted. "So are you entering yourself into the tournament then?" he asked his friends, already knowing their answers.

"No, of course not." Hermione said, "Much too dangerous just for some money and fame…"

"Well, of _course_ I'm entering!" Ron said excitedly, "Could you imagine? It's so much money! And the eternal glory!? Of course I would want that, to hell with the risks!"

"Well, you go ahead and do that then Ron… I'll pass."

"What do you mean you pass?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I don't particularly want to be in a tournament and I don't want money or eternal glory… I just want to have a normal year at Hogwarts for once." Harry said truthfully.

He had no desire whatsoever to be a part of something so dangerous. _I've had enough danger in my life already to last me seven lifetimes, I don't want nor need anymore…_

**Author's Note:**

So! Let me know what you think and if I should keep going with this story as well as my main one!?

**Always,**

** CourtneyMalfoy22**


	2. Chapter 2

You're Too Important To Die

_Chapter 2:_

Harry couldn't help but feel like something terrible was about to happen. He knew that he was being completely illogical, but he still felt it anyways. It's just that he's noticed that bad things tend to happen only to him and so he just knew that something would happen to him involving the Tournament…

The trio sat at Gryffindor Table that night at dinner and waited for Dumbledore to start. For the past week, people have been going up to put their name in the Goblet of Fire. Harry couldn't have been happier when Dumbledore had announced that only witches or wizards who were of age could put their name in the Goblet and that there was an age circle that had been spelled around it. Harry slept much easier at night, knowing that the Goblet would not accept it if someone put Harry's name in the Goblet.

Finally, Dumbledore stood and the whole Hall became silent, everyone wanting to know who would be called. The Head Master made his speech and then one by one, caught the pieces of paper that flew out of the multi-coloured flames. By the end, the three Champions were chosen: Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour and Victor Krum.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't been called up. He turned to speak with Hermione and Ron about who had been chosen for Hogwarts, but had to turn back to look at Dumbledore when he heard his name called. He looked toward the Professor's table to see the looks of horror and anger that were shown on their faces.

"_Harry Potter!"_ Dumbledore said once again, which is when Harry noticed something important that he had obviously missed before.

Dumbledore was holding a piece of charred parchment in his hand.

"_Go Harry" _Hermione said, forcing him to stand up and pushing him forwards slightly.

Harry couldn't believe this was happening to him. He didn't understand how this could have happened since three champions had already been chosen! There shouldn't be a fourth! _There must be a mistake!_ And even though he knew this and surely everyone else knew this as well, he was still being forced to walk up to Dumbledore. Once in front of the Head Master, Dumbledore showed him the piece of charred parchment which did, in fact, read _'Harry Potter, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'_.

He felt himself freeze where he was, unable to take his eyes off of the parchment bearing his name. _How?_ He wondered, not understanding how this could have happened. He looked up at Dumbledore and saw that the older man looked just as surprised as him, which was not a comforting thought for Harry.

Eventually, Harry managed to move again. He turned around to face the students and saw that most everyone was angry, obviously believing that Harry had done this on purpose and had found out a way to cheat the system. He found two things to be the most surprising. One being that Malfoy seemed not to be outraged, but to be contemplating something instead. _It almost seems like he doesn't believe that I put my name in the Goblet…_he thought, but quickly decided to think about it later instead, as he looked at Ron. Ron seemed to be the angriest out of everyone in the whole castle. He glared menacingly up at Harry, obviously thinking that Harry had gotten past the age line and had not told Ron about it.

Not wanting to have to see Ron's looks anymore, he turned and headed towards the door at the back of the room which the other Champions had gone through.

Right once he was back there, he was bombarded with questions from the other Champions and from the teachers who had trailed in behind him. He briefly noticed Rita Skeeter in the back of the room with a devious grin on her face before he was forced to look at Dumbledore.

"Did you put your name in that Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore questioned intently.

"No! Of course not!" Harry exclaimed.

After that, the other professors argued over whether or not Harry had been telling the truth. Harry tuned most of it out until they started speaking about Harry simply being taken out of the Tournament.

"I'm afraid that's not possible…" Dumbledore said gravely, turning back to look at Harry.

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So… I'm going to have to compete?" he asked, absolutely terrified of the answer he was bound to get.

"Yes Harry… You will have to compete… You have no other choice."

He suddenly felt extremely faint and had to sit down in a chair that someone had moved closer to him. "I… No, please…" All he had wanted was a normal year at Hogwarts, yet here he was, entered in a Tournament he had no business being a part of.

"I think, perhaps, that young Harry here should get some sleep." Dumbledore said, effectively dismissing everyone from the room. Once everyone had left, Dumbledore placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, saying, "I'm so sorry…" before he too left the room.

Harry somehow managed to get up and stumble to the Gryffindor Common Room, wanting nothing more than to get some sleep before he had to deal with the day to come. However, he was all but tackled when he entered but Hermione, who had obviously been waiting for him.

Happy that at least one of his friends believed him, he hugged her tightly as she said, "I'm so sorry! I can't believe this is happening! Do you know how _dangerous_ these tasks are? People have _died_ in this Tournament Harry!"

"Hermione, I really didn't need to know that…" Harry said as what she had said actually sank in.

"Oh, right… Sorry." She said.

"Look, I just want to go to bed, okay?" Harry said around a yawn, proving his point.

"Yeah, okay… I'll see you tomorrow Harry…" She gave his arm one last squeeze before she disappeared up the stairs.

Harry sank into his bed, grateful that everyone else was already asleep. He really didn't want to deal with all of the angry Gryffindors just yet. _That can wait until tomorrow…_

**Author's Note:**

Again, tell me what you think and if I should continue! Favorite and Review! :D

**Always,**

** CourtneyMalfoy22**


	3. Chapter 3

You're Too Important To Die

**Author's Note:**

Heyy, so I hope you're enjoying it so far! Let me know what you think

**Always,**

** CourtneyMalfoy22**

_Chapter 3:_

Harry woke up to find the room completely void of his roommates. At first, he had been quite happy at that fact, but when he looked at the clock, he realised that they had gotten up extremely early. No doubt, they hadn't wanted to be there when Harry awoke and had purposely left him alone, showing him that he no longer had their support. That they wouldn't be there for him when he most needed them.

Harry got ready for the day slowly, not wanting to get to the Great Hall early and have to sit through so much hatred for so long. As his stomach started to growl a few minutes later though, he decided to suck it up and find his Gryffindor courage. He walked down the stairs and as he entered the Common Room, it suddenly became very quiet. Harry had known something like this would happen, but it still hurt him none the less.

Just as he was starting to make his way to the portrait hole, he was stopped by someone. Luckily for him, it was Hermione. She was smiling up at him and gave him a good hug before she chatted about trivial things as they pushed their way through the crowd.

"I have never been so thankful to have you as a friend in my entire life 'Mione!" Harry said gratefully.

"Yes, well…" Hermione said, blushing slightly at the compliment and at how sincere Harry had been when he'd said it, "It's what friends do"

"Not all friends…" he said glumly as he saw Ron coming towards him from across the hall with a furious look on his face.

"Well… Perhaps he isn't your friend Harry." She said gently, knowing that Harry would be upset.

"He'll come around, he always does." Harry said enthusiastically, ignoring the look Hermione was giving him that clearly said Ron wasn't coming around anytime soon, if ever.

Just as Hermione was about to say something to Harry, Ron interrupted. "Who do you think you are?" Ron spat.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You think you're so special? That since you're Harry Potter you can just break all the rules?"

"No, I don't think that at all" Harry replied adamantly.

"You didn't even tell your _best friend_ that you had figured out how to get past that age line!"

"I _didn't put my name in that Goblet!_" Harry exclaimed.

"No, of _course_ you didn't…" Ron said sarcastically. "I know why you didn't tell me. Because you are a _self-centered prick_ who wanted all the glory for themselves!"

Harry was about to respond when someone else beat him to it. "Oh really Weasley? Because it looked to me like he was scared half to death when his name was called." Malfoy said, making his Slytherin followers laugh behind him.

"No one asked _you_, Malfoy."

Malfoy simply walked away with his group of Slytherins, not once looking back. Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude towards the blonde in that moment. Though Malfoy had insulted him, he had told everyone that Harry had been scared, which would show that he had not put his name in the Goblet.

He didn't know if it had been intentional or not, but either way, the blonde had helped him somewhat. Hermione then dragged Harry away from Ron and they sat down at the end of the table, closest to the doors. Harry took a moment to briefly look up at the Slytherin table, to find that Malfoy was watching him. The blonde gave him a nod of acknowledgement and then looked away.

_So Malfoy _was _doing that on purpose…_ Harry mused, _So he believes me then… But why on earth would he want to help me?_

He didn't have much time to think about it however, as he only had ten minutes to finish eating and get to class. He rushed through breakfast and hurried after 'Mione to their first class. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts with the new professor, Alastair (Mad-Eye) Moody.

As he and Hermione walked in, he noticed that the table he would usually sit at was occupied by Ron and two other Gryffindors. He looked around to find a new seat when he noticed some movement in the very back. Zabini and Parkinson had stood up and moved to another table, leaving Malfoy with two empty seats, one on either side of him. The blonde gave him a pointed look and Harry wasted no more time, dragging Hermione with him.

"Why are we sitting next to Malfoy?" Hermione whispered in his ear.

"Just trust me." Harry replied, not being able to say anymore as they had reach the blonde's table.

Hermione sat to Malfoy's right and Harry sat to his left. They stayed quiet, none wanting to speak since everyone else would hear what they said. The room was deathly silent until the door burst open to admit Alastair Moody. Harry half listened as Mad-Eye spoke about the Dark Arts, too busy thinking about what Malfoy was playing at.

He was brought out of his musings by the blonde himself who had begun to lightly drum his fingers on the table to get Harry's attention. Harry looked towards the blonde and found that there was a piece of parchment next to Malfoy's fingers that was obviously meant for him to read.

_ 'I know you didn't put your name in the Goblet of Fire.' _

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that someone else believed him as well. _'How could you tell?' _he wrote back and waited patiently for a reply.

'_We'll talk later, expect my owl sometime tonight.'_

'_How do I know I can trust you?' _Harry asked.

'_You don't'_ was the simple reply he received.

Harry didn't bother writing back and started to pay attention to what Mad-Eye was saying. He decided that he'd think about what the blonde had written later on, after hearing that Mad-Eye was talking about the Unforgiveables. _I thought we weren't supposed to learn about those._ Harry thought.

Currently, the professor was speaking about what exactly they did and why they are so Unforgiveable. Suddenly, Moody took out a spider-like creature and proceeded to show the whole class exactly what the spells did by using them on the poor creature. Harry was horrified to say the least. He couldn't believe that a Hogwarts professor was demonstrating the curses to a class. He saw the looks of horror on the other students' faces and noticed that some had stronger reactions than others. Harry looked to Malfoy and saw that he looked horrified, but as if it didn't surprise him for some reason… _I'll ask him about it later_. He thought, deciding in that moment to talk to Malfoy later that night.

"Mr. Potter, come up here." Mad-Eye said.

Having not been paying as close attention as he should have been, he had no clue as to why he was being called up. As he looked around, however, he noticed that everyone else had confused looks as well. He stopped at the front of the room and went to turn around to face Moody but found himself unable to as he felt as though a fog was rolling into his mind. This fog kept coming until it filled his whole body and Harry was unable to move. Suddenly, the fog part slightly and showed him a path of what to do. It showed him that he needed to jump onto the table that Ron was sitting at. The fog ensured that he could only see that option, yet Harry knew that there must be other options out there. So instead of following the path, he made his own, pushing the fog away until he could choose to turn around and face Moody instead.

Harry turned to look at his professor, only to find that Mad-Eye was pointing his wand at him and had a confused look on his face. "Why didn't you jump?" Moody asked.

Harry could feel the fog trying to envelop his mind again, but this time he pushed it away easily. "Whatever you're doing to me, stop." Harry said firmly, surprising himself with his nerve.

"Alright…" Moody said, completely surprised as he stopped the spell.

"What was that?" Harry asked once he was sure the fog was completely gone.

"That, Mr. Potter, was the Imperious Curse… Which seems to have no effect on you…"

"Wait, what?" Harry exclaimed. _He cast one of the Unforgiveables at me!? At a student? And it has no effect on me!? _"But… it wasn't completely ineffective… The fog tried to close my mind off, so I just pushed through it."

"You _just_ pushed through it?" Moody said incredulously, "No witch or wizard has managed to throw off the Imperious Curse so easily Mr. Potter… Well done."

Harry sat back down next to Malfoy, completely flabbergasted. "What just happened?" He whispered to himself.

"Obviously you're more powerful than you thought Potter." Malfoy said as quietly as possible towards him.

Harry contemplated that for a moment before looking back towards the front of the class. He wished he hadn't however, as he saw the furious look that Ron was shooting his way. _This can't lead to anything good…_ He thought to himself.

As class was ending and everyone was packing up to leave, he noticed Malfoy slip him one last note before leaving.

'_Don't forget about our meeting tonight. I'll send and owl. –DM'_


	4. Chapter 4

You're Too Important To Die

**Author's Note:**

Sorry it's been so long, I've been dealing with some friend things, so I've had to put this off a bit! But not to worry, it's back now!

**Always,**

** CourtneyMalfoy22**

_Chapter 4:_

Harry waited impatiently with Hermione in the Gryffindor Common Room for Malfoy's owl to arrive. At first, Hermione had been extremely skeptical about the blonde, but she said she trusted Harry's judgement. Besides, she was one of the few who knew about his magical abilities and therefore knew that Harry would be able to defend himself just fine if it came to that.

Normally, Hermione would be doing her homework and studying in the library, but Harry knew she was worried about what Ron would do once he found Harry to be alone. Harry had scoffed at the idea of Ron trying to hurt him, but a part of him knew that her worries weren't completely off whenever he looked at the red head and saw the furious looks he would get.

Currently, Harry was rapping his fingers against his homework and no doubt annoying Hermione to death. Suddenly, a beautiful barn owl swooped into the room and landed on Harry's outstretched hand. Harry was surprised to find out that the letter was from Malfoy, only because he had expected the blonde to have a more majestic owl. Harry liked the barn owl, however, and quickly gave her a few treats.

"Well aren't you beautiful…" Harry said absently as he unrolled the parchment. The owl hooted happily and then took off again, obviously not needed a reply.

Potter,

_ Meet me outside of the Slytherin Common Room after curfew._

_-DM_

"Outside of _Slytherin_?" Hermione asked, having read the letter over his shoulder, "He wants you to go to their Common Room?"

"I guess so…" Harry said, trying to figure out what this could possibly be about.

"Maybe you shouldn't go Harry…" Hermione said slowly, "Maybe it's not such a good idea…"

"I'll be fine 'Mione, I always am"

"I know…" she sighed, "I just worry."

"I know." He said with a smile, giving her a hug in appreciation for her caring about him so much.

"You should finish your homework now, you only have a few hours before you're to meet him." Hermione said as she sat back down in her seat.

Harry groaned, realising there was no getting out of the homework. He looked around the room and noticed Ron glaring at him intensely. _He must have seen me hug Hermione… _he thought,_ Now he's going to be even angrier…_ Harry decided to forget about it and just finish his homework like 'Mione had told him to as he waited for curfew.

Finally, it was past curfew and Harry quickly rushed to his room to put all of his school work away and grab his invisibility cloak. He double checked that his wand was in his pocket and then headed out the portrait hole, oddly excited to meet Malfoy.

When he got there, Malfoy wasn't in sight, so he observed the portrait of a snake that was obviously the entrance to the Common Room. He was going to ignore it when the snake started moving, flicking its tongue out and turned to face him head on.

'_I can ssmell you, show yoursself.' _It hissed.

Harry took off his invisibility cloak before answering, '_Ssorry, I am waiting for ssomeone to meet me here, I do not mean to ssneak around'_

'_You sspeak parsseltongue?' _the snake asked incredulously, _'Why are you not in my house, young Sspeaker?'_

'_I was supposed to be, but I had no knowledge of the Houses and someone from Slytherin had insulted my friends, so I chose not to be put here.' _Harry said.

'_Do you wish you had chosen Sslytherin now?'_ the snake asked curiously.

Harry thought about it for a long while, wanting to give an honest answer. _'I'm not entirely sure, I'm not sure if my life would have been easier or not in Slytherin… It's sort of complicated.'_

'_What iss your name, young sspeaker?' _the snake asked, eyeing him intensely.

'_Harry Potter'_

'The _Harry Potter? Suppossed to have been in _Sslytherin_? Now I see why it iss complicated…' _The snake mused.

'_And what, may I ask, is your name?' _Harry asked politely.

'_My name, young speaker, is Serpens.'_

'_Rather fitting.' _Harry said.

'_Yess, I do believe it iss.' _Serpens said with a small hiss-like laugh. _'Do you need in?'_

'_But… I'm not a Sslytherin and I do not know the password.' _Harry said, surprised.

'_Ah, but you are a sspeaker who was meant to be in Sslytherin, so I will grant you access when you wish.'_

'_But I'm in Gryffindor… They have alwayss hated Slytherinss… How do you know I'm not going to hurt them if you let me in?' _Harry asked, confused as to why Serpens trusted him so much.

'_Young speaker, the fact that you just said _they _instead of _we_ proves to me that you shall be able to get over this feud soon enough. Besides, are you not here to meet one of my students?'_ Serpens replied confidently.

'_Well, yess… But we have been enemies for years…'_

'_And yet here you are, about to have a friendly meeting with him.'_

'_I supposse you are correct…' _Harry replied, unable to say differently.

'_Of coursse I am correct… I feel as though you will do great thingss young sspeaker… Perhapss it'ss time you became a Sslytherin and sstopped pretending to be a Gryffindor…'_

Harry thought about it for a while, before the portrait door was swung open, showing Malfoy to finally have decided to come out and meet him. "Oh, Potter! Sorry I'm late, I had to break up a fight between Blaise and Pansy again." The blonde said easily, rolling his eyes at the mention of Zabini and Parkinson.

"It's no problem Malfoy, I was just speaking with Serpens." Harry replied.

"Serpens? Who's that?" Malfoy asked, confused.

Harry rolled his eyes before he closed the portrait hole in order to show Malfoy the portrait of Serpens. "That is Serpens of course. Honestly, how do you not know the name of the snake which guards your Common Room?" Harry questioned with a roll of the eyes.

'_He doess not understand uss, of coursse.' _Serpens explained before Malfoy could say anything.

It was obvious that Malfoy was going to ask what Serpens was saying, but Harry stopped him by answering the snake. _'Right… I forgot about that.'_

"I forgot you could speak to snakes Potter." Malfoy said. "Well, are you ready to go?"

"There's just one last thing I must say to Serpens." Harry said to Draco before switching into Parseltongue easily. _'Serpens, switching Houses is not an easy thing and I have friends in Gryffindor and only one of them would switch with me, so I must unfortunately stay with Gryffindor.'_

The snake bowed it's head slightly while he responded, _'Of coursse I understand, young Sspeaker… But know that the offer sstill standss and that you may sstill enter without a password if you sso dessire.'_

'_Thank you Serpens, I sshall keep that in mind.' _Harry responded, bowing completely before turning back to the blonde beside him who looked thoroughly confused and awed at the same time.

"That was pretty brilliant…" Malfoy complimented.

"Thanks. So where are we going?" he asked.

"Oh, into Slytherin of course, you will be coming with me to my rooms."

"Why?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Because it is the most private place I know of." Malfoy responded simply. "Look, I can't give you the password until I know I can trust you, so I'm going to put up a silencing charm around me so you can't hear it, alright?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh lightly at that. "There's no need Malfoy, Serpens already assured me that I don't need a password to get in, that he'd just let me in if I asked."

"What? But-What? I don't believe you." Malfoy said incredulously.

The look on the blonde's face was priceless, making Harry laugh even more. He hissed to Serpens to please open the door for him and Malfoy, which only proceeded to make Malfoy look even funnier when the portrait swung open to admit them both. The two of them walked into the Slytherin Common Room, Harry doubled over in laughter and Malfoy smiling slightly with an awed expression on his face.

"Only you, Potter, only you!" Malfoy laughed.

Finally, both boys calmed down enough to look around the Common Room. They found plenty of confused and incredulous faces looking back at them, obviously not having expected Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy to be laughing _with _each other rather than _at_ each other. Harry

Malfoy led Harry towards the stairs, ignoring the stares from the other Slytherins. "So how did you manage that Potter?"

"I have a way with snakes" He said with a laugh, watching as Malfoy rolled his eyes at him in response.

They made their way up the stairs until they were at the very top, where he then followed the blonde into a room the same size as the one he shared with five other boys. The main difference was that the colour scheme was in greys and greens and that there was only one bed in the room, rather than multiple. The room had a decent sized fireplace with a rug in front of it and a couch and a few chairs settled around it. There was also a door on the wall opposite the sitting area that no doubt led to a bathroom. Straight across from the door they had entered was a desk with shelves on either side of it. As Harry ventured further into the room, he noticed that there were various potions ingredients on the left shelves and books on the right ones.

"How did you manage this?" Harry asked.

"They had a bunch of extra rooms since there aren't as many people in Slytherin, so I was lucky enough to have gotten a room to myself." Malfoy explained simply.

"Merlin, I wish I had gotten a room to myself…" he mused.

"Really?" the blonde asked, sounding surprised, "I would have thought that, being a Gryffindor and all, you would enjoy rooming with your friends…"

"Well, it's great and all for the first few days, but it gets old quickly. I enjoy solitude more."

"Hmm… sure you're not a Slytherin, Potter?" Malfoy asked with a laugh.

Harry smiled to himself, thinking of the reaction he would get out of the blonde if Malfoy knew the truth. "I never said I wasn't" he said, smirking when Malfoy became confused.

"What-"

"So why am I here?" Harry cut him off.

"Oh, right… Have a seat Potter." Malfoy said, taking one of the seats next to the fire. Harry then took the one opposite to him and waited for the blonde to begin. "Well, as I've already told you, I know you didn't put your name in the Goblet of Fire."

"Right, and how exactly do you know that? Even Ron couldn't tell." He asked curiously.

"It was quite obvious to anyone who was paying attention. You looked petrified and confused. Not even _I_ could have faked such a reaction so well."

"Alright… So what does you believing me have to do with me being here?"

He watched curiously as the blonde started to shift uneasily in his seat, obviously uncomfortable saying his next words for some reason. "Well… Look Potter, believe it or not, us Slytherins don't hate you and worship the Dark Lord… And… Oh forget it…"

Harry studied the other boy intensely before realising that Malfoy was telling the truth. "Keep going Malfoy, I believe you." He said simply, causing the blonde to look up with confusion in his eyes.

"Why? Why do you believe me?" Malfoy asked doubtfully.

"For the same reason as to you believed me I suppose." Harry said, "Continue with what you were saying."

"Al-alright… Well we figure that you will not be welcomed so much in Gryffindor now and we realise that you will need some allies if you are going to succeed in this Tournament."

"And the Slytherins want to be my allies?" Harry questioned.

"Well, yes."

"But why?" He speculated.

He watched as Malfoy rolled his eyes at him. "Oh please Potter, you are much too important to die. If you were to die, then the Dark Lord would take over and we'd all be screwed."

"Ah, I see now. Self-preservation. I should have known." Harry replied with a smirk.

"Well of course… We _are_ Slytherins after all." Malfoy responded with a matching smirk.

"So what is it that you and the Slytherins wanted to happen out of all of this?" he questioned.

"We want a truce. We want you to know that we are on your side and that you can come to us for help, just as we can come to _you_ for help." Malfoy said in all seriousness.

Harry sat and thought about it for a few minutes. He knew that he would get a lot of hate from the other Houses for creating this truce between him and the Slytherins, but he also knew that he may need their help for the Tournament since he couldn't very well ask Hermione to do all the research for him. Plus, he knew it would be a good idea to have people on his side who had no qualms about breaking school rules...

As he thought, he noticed that Malfoy was getting more and more restless. It was obvious to Harry that the blonde didn't expect him to accept the truce. _He probably expects me to blow up at him and decline the truce completely and then tell the whole school about it the next day… It's not like I probably wouldn't have done it before all of this happened…_ Harry decided that he didn't need to think about it much longer, so he instead decided to put Malfoy out of his misery and give him an answer.

"Alright, I accept your truce." Harry said, holding his hand out to have the blonde shake it.

"Really?" Malfoy said, looking at the offered hand incredulously. "You do realise that any of us would be able to ask you for help, right?"

"I know, as long as it doesn't endanger other people, I'd be happy to help." Harry said with a small smile.

"Alright then." Malfoy said, smiling brightly back before shaking the offered hand.

Both boys then stood up and began walking back down the stairs towards the Common Room. He was surprised to find that all of Slytherin were waiting for them there, obviously wondering how it had gone. Zabini was the first to speak as he obviously saw that they weren't at each other's throats.

"So Potter, you accepted the truce then?" Zabini asked bluntly.

"Yes, I did." He responded simply, nodding towards the other students there as well as Zabini.

"And Draco told you about helping us out?" Parkinson pitched in.

"Of course he did, and I agreed to that as well." He said, shocking the other students. He sighed before saying, "Look, I have come to an understanding about all of you and so I am willing to help, especially since I know I may very well be needing your assistance with the Tournament."

"Of course we'll help" Parkinson and Malfoy said together, flashing each other a quick glare.

"Okay, well I'm going to bed now. Keep in touch Malfoy." Harry said with a smile.

He received a smile in return from the blonde and couldn't help but notice that Parkinson glared menacingly at Malfoy for whatever reason. He shrugged it off however, when he realised how tired he was and quickly hid under his invisibility cloak before leaving the room, closing the portrait hole behind him.

'_Goodnight young Sspeaker…' _he heard from Serpens as he walked down the corridors towards Gryffindor Tower.

He quietly slid into the room he shared with five other people and then slid into his bed, wanting to make as little noise as possible. He lay in bed for a while, thinking of what had just happened. He was sure Hermione would be pleased with his decision to make peace with the Slytherins, but he knew it would no doubt be the last straw for Ron. He thought back to how civil he and Malfoy had been towards each other and decided that he rather liked the blonde much better that way.

As he fell asleep, he made a plan of a way to help the Slytherins out.

**Author's Note:**

So, it's a long chapter, I know! Way to go me! :P So tell me what you thought! Don't forget to Favorite and Review! :D

**Always,**

** CourtneyMalfoy22**


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